First Nations Election Cancellation and Postponement

Summary#

The federal government made the First Nations Election Cancellation and Postponement Regulations (Prevention of Diseases) to let some First Nations delay or cancel local elections during the COVID‑19 outbreak. The rules let a band council extend the term of its chief and councillors and set how postponed or cancelled votes and ballots must be handled. The regulations came into force on April 8, 2020 and are due to be repealed on April 8, 2021.

What it does#

• Allows a First Nation council to extend the tenure or term of its chief and councillors if the extension is needed to prevent, mitigate or control disease. The council must act within 90 days before the current term ends.
• When a council extends a term it must also choose one of two actions:
  • Cancel the upcoming election and call a new election for a day no more than 30 days before the end of the extended term; or
  • Postpone the election and set a new day no more than 30 days before the end of the extended term.
• Sets specific rules about ballots and election materials:
  • Under the Indian Act rules: if an election is cancelled, the electoral officer must destroy election documents with personal information and must destroy, without opening, any envelopes containing mail‑in ballots in the presence of two witnesses who declare they saw the destruction.
  • Under the First Nations Elections Act rules: if an election is cancelled, the electoral officer must destroy personal information documents, all mail‑in ballot packages received, and ballots cast during advance polling. If an election is postponed, mail‑in ballot envelopes and advance polling ballots must be kept sealed until the vote.
  • If an election is cancelled, the electoral officer and any deputies are removed from office.
• Covers elections held under:
  • the Indian Act,
  • the First Nations Elections Act, and
  • elections “according to custom” (councils can extend terms even if their custom rules don’t normally allow it).
• Limits on extensions:
  • Extensions are limited in time. The regulations say an extension period must not exceed six months, and they also state an extension must not be made more than twice. (The text contains language elsewhere that suggests a single extension in a specific case; the document is not entirely consistent on whether some extensions can only be done once or up to twice.)
• Special case for elections that were skipped just before these rules came into force:
  • If an election that would have happened in the 30 days before the rules started was not held to avoid disease spread, a new election must be held within six months after the rules came into force. The sitting chief and councillors in that situation are treated as remaining in office until the new election.
• These regulations were registered and came into force on April 8, 2020, and they are set to be repealed on April 8, 2021.

Who's affected#

• First Nation councils that were due to hold elections during the COVID‑19 outbreak.
• Current chiefs and councillors whose terms were about to expire.
• Electoral officers and any deputy electoral officers working for those First Nations.
• Members of those First Nations who would normally vote in local elections, including those using mail‑in ballots.
• The rules were developed with input from Indigenous Services Canada and are intended for the specific public‑health context of the pandemic.

Why it matters#

• It gives First Nations a clear, limited legal way to avoid holding in‑person elections during a public‑health emergency. That can reduce the risk of spreading disease in communities.
• It prevents a sudden loss of local government by allowing elected leaders to stay in office for a short, defined time so essential services and decisions can continue.
• It changes how ballots and election records are handled if elections are cancelled or postponed, which affects voters’ privacy and the work of electoral staff.
• The rules are temporary and tied to the pandemic period. The text contains a small inconsistency about how many times an extension can be used; the regulations limit extensions to six months and state they must not be extended more than twice, but another part reads differently, so some practical details could require clarification.